Study On The Translation And Reception Of Bai Hua’s Poetry In Foreign Countries

The Report of the 19 th National Congress of the Communist Party of China has it that we are supposed to strengthen cultural confidence,promote the prosperity of socialist culture,and vigorously enhance the soft power and the influence of Chinese culture.The Initiative of“Chinese Culture and Chinese Literature Going Global” has thus become an urgent task in the New Era.Undoubtedly,poetry is at the very core of literature,and contemporary Chinese poetry,deeply rooted in traditional Chinese culture,is a clear reflection of the evolution of Chinese society as well as the artistic pursuit of contemporary Chinese poets,who are constantly experimenting with Chinese language itself,striving to break through the boundaries of the language and possibilities of its usage.Their endeavors have definitely revealed the unique features and values of contemporary Chinese poetry in terms of language,literature,and culture.Meanwhile,contemporary Chinese poetry has demonstrated its unique value in promoting the literary exchanges and mutual understanding between Chinese and foreign literature in the process of “Chinese Literature Going Global”.However,much attention has been paid,up till now,to ancient Chinese poetry,and less has been paid to contemporary Chinese poetry,Post-Misty poetry in particular,both at home and abroad.As an outstanding representative of Post-Misty poets,Bai Hua is one of the best lyric poets in China,and one of the earliest contemporary Chinese poets who have been translated abroad and received attention since the 1980 s.Taking the contemporary Chinese poet Bai Hua as the research object,the author has conducted a study of the translation,dissemination and acceptance of Bai Hua as well as his poetry in foreign countries.The author intends to stress the significance of a dialogue between contemporary Chinese poetry and world literature.Through this dissertation,one can observe the status quo of translation and acceptance of contemporary Chinese poetry as well as its patterns of communication in foreign countries,which ultimately provides theoretical references and practical methods for contemporary Chinese poetry “Going Global”.In the meantime,under the guidance of translation studies and variation theory of comparative literature,the author has carried out comparative studies of poetry translation and studies of translation deviations between a select collection of Bai Hua’s poems and their English translation.Moreover,with a linguistic method,the author has analyzed the differences in text interpretation and translation strategy between Chinese and foreign translators,with a view to fathoming out translation strategies that can retain the characteristics of contemporary Chinese poetry and be well received by the audience in English-speaking countries.The significance of poetry translation for text interpretation and poetry construction has also been studied from the perspective of hermeneutics.The author starts with an exhaustive review of the literature pertinent to Bai Hua and his works,including publications,translations,and related researches in Chinese and foreign languages.Through a systematic research into his personal life,writing process,views on poetics and the characteristics of poetry in different periods,a domestic image of Bai Hua is constructed,which is later used as a background reference for translation studies.Based on the first-hand materials(mostly in English),the author has carried out a comprehensive and systematic review on the translation,dissemination and acceptance of Bai Hua as well as his poetry in foreign countries,Hong Kong and Taiwan.The main findings are as follows: First,Bai Hua is,since the 1980 s,one of the earliest contemporary Chinese poets whose works have been translated abroad with wide popularity.Apart from Bai Hua’s reputation and influence in the domestic community from the late 1980 s to the 1990 s,it also owes much to his strong consciousness of translation and communication,given that he was an English major in college.Second,Bai Hua’s poems were translated and published first in European countries(the Netherlands,Germany,and France)and later in English-speaking countries.This was directly attributable to the strong recommendation of such famous poets as Bei Dao and Zhang Zao,who were living in European countries at the time.The overseas literary magazine Today and the Today Foundation,initiated by Bei Dao,have played a crucial role in introducing outstanding poets of contemporary Chinese literature to the rest of the world.Third,there have been a number of translated versions of Bai Hua’s poems,but few translators have exclusively focused on Bai’s poetry.The lukewarm response by foreign audience is partly attributed to translating.As far as the translations are concerned,some have failed to retain the unique sound and vibe of Bai’s poems in Chinese original.Fourth,when it comes to the translation subjects,most of the translations have been completed by foreign Sinologists or poets.Rare cases have been found that have resulted from the cooperation between Chinese and foreign translators.Moreover,there have been found few foreign translators virtually bilingual in Chinese and another foreign language,which has made it extra difficult to find a qualified translator with a high level of proficiency in Chinese and excellent translation skills.That being said,it is inevitable to spot certain misunderstandings of the original poems in the versions by foreign translators.From where the author stands,it is incumbent upon both Chinese and foreign translators to produce adequate translations of contemporary Chinese poetry.An ideal translation mode is based on mutual trust,communication,and understanding between Chinese and foreign translators.Fifth,the involvement of Internet in the translation of Bai Hua’s poetry is far from sufficient,a problem that most contemporary Chinese poets are faced with.In the age of Internet,it is necessary,for the sake of a better comprehension of contemporary Chinese poetry for foreign audience,to overcome language barriers and take good advantage of online media to strengthen interaction with foreign readers and poets.The author then goes on to investigate the overseas acceptance of Bai Hua’s poetry.It has been found that,in terms of translation selection,there has been a notable difference between the poems translated by foreign translators and the ones recommended by Bai Hua,which is the very epitome of the unique aesthetic tastes of Western audience.Therefore,translators(or editors)should take full consideration of aesthetic needs and expectations of Western readers when making translation selections.In addition,the current research conducted by overseas scholars on Bai Hua’s poetry is generally related to the Chinese context in social,political,and cultural spheres,with an inclination towards over-interpretation on ideology.This shows the typical political prejudice and “Otherness”imagination of Western readers.Admittedly,political prejudice can hardly be avoided for the translation of contemporary Chinese poetry in the occidental world,and what Chinese poets can do is produce much better poems to deconstruct politics.However,Western audience’s preference for “classics” and “exoticism” should be treated with due attention.The reading expectations from Western audience is partly a reflection of what Stephen Owen called“nationality” or “the local” that World poetry cannot afford to lose.It is noticeable that,in addition to studies in social and cultural context,Western academics have also paid much attention to meticulous text reading.Instead of obsession with contextual studies,they place an equal emphasis on research into language,content,form,and sound of poetry.Furthermore,with English translations of Bai Hua’s poetry as the research object,the author undertakes studies on comparison of several translated versions,translation deviations,and cooperative translation.From the perspective of hermeneutics,the author also elaborates on the significance of poetry translation for the construction of the meanings of poems.Different versions vary greatly in writing style and understanding of the poems in Chinese original.On the one hand,the Chinese translators have an edge in comprehension of Chinese poems and perception of their musical beauty.And on the other hand,the foreign translators are at an advantage in language accuracy and poetic conversion.In the author’s mind,it is only a few translations featuring “creative treason” that are in full realization of the rich artistic connotations of the original poems and Bai Hua’s one-of-a-kind view on poetics.Brain Holton’s translation is one of them.From the perspective of variation theory in comparative literature,the author analyzes the cultural filtering,misreading and mistranslation in Brain Holton’s renditions,all of which originate from disparate literary traditions and thinking modes between China and Western countries.It is held by the author that the “deviations” on or “creative treason” of poetry translation is what makes translated poems popular with foreign audience,through which the Chinese poetry has been reborn in a foreign land.In addition,from the perspective of hermeneutics,the author elaborates on the significance of poetry translation for the construction of poetics.Poetry translation should be reviewed by poets,translators,critics and readers with an open mind.Only by this means can we leave ample space of creative interpretation and language conversion for translators.Lastly,the author attempts to use Bourdieu’s literary field theory to analyze the reasons why the acceptance of Bai Hua’s translated poems in the new era does not go as smooth as it did in the early days.As a matter of fact,Bai Hua stopped writing poetry for 15 years and a large number of poems were written and published after his return,which took a heavy toll on the accumulation of symbolic capital.The lesson learned from this is that if poets want to find favor overseas,they must accumulate symbolic capital effectively.On the one hand,poets’ literary production should not be in mere pursuit of economic benefits or catering to the popular tastes.The thing at the top of list for poetry writing is quality,and publication of small quantity/better quality can be helpful to the accumulation of symbolic capital.On the other hand,the Chinese poets are welcome to be engaged in exchanges with foreign community on a regular basis,including attending mutual translation projects,international poetry festivals and seminars.Only in this way can the Chinese poets be well connected with the Sinologists,poets and translators overseas.The cultural institutions of the Chinese government,publishers,colleges and universities are obliged to help with the exchanges of contemporary poets,translators,and scholars,and to provide financial support if needed.That being done,the translation of contemporary Chinese poetry should be on good track.This dissertation is,for the very first time,a systematic,comprehensive and complete review and analysis of Bai Hua and his poems in Chinese poetry community as well as of its translation,dissemination and reception overseas.Through this study,the author endeavors to give a comprehensive presentation of Bai Hua,a highly prestigious contemporary Chinese poet with remarkable artistic accomplishments and bold poetic explorations,whose works are imbued with poetic,historical,and cultural values.More importantly,the author strives to provide theoretical references and practical methods for the translation and dissemination of contemporary Chinese poetry.This study is expected to promote the dialogue between contemporary Chinese poetry and world literature,enhance the understanding of contemporary Chinese poetry in overseas literary,poetic,and Sinological communities as well as to improve the status and influences of contemporary Chinese poetry in foreign countries,which is conducive to enhancing China’s cultural soft power,and ultimately making contributions to the construction of human civilization and a “Community of Shared Future for Mankind”.